“It is impossible to observe the film’s interviews with Spinney and not be taken aback by the man’s extraordinary sensitivity, and the deeply unhappy childhood that seems still very much with him today. That this vulnerability manages to come through an eight-foot-tall fluffy bird costume is testament to what a brilliant performer Caroll Spinney is.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 05/13/2015
“This middling little number feels like a rejected pilot for one of those sex-crime-fixated, baby-napping network procedurals designed to scare the crap out of senior citizens and security moms for ratings gold. But at least that kind of garbage has a pulse. The only mystery here is how so many talented people wound up working on this dreck.” – Movie Mezzanine, 05/13/2015
“These two gals are constantly being underestimated, Vergara for her sheer va-va-voom and Reese for her clenched, constipated carrying-on. (It’s a glorious comedic performance, as if all Tracy Flick’s Type A tendencies imploded into a twangy black hole of Witherspoonian repression.) And yet when push comes to shove, they rise to the occasion.” – Movie Mezzanine, 05/08/2015
MAGGIE * * 1 / 2
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson, Bryce Romero and Jodie Moore. Screenplay by John Scott 3. Directed by Henry Hobson.
“It feels like a Hallmark Channel movie that just so happened to land a couple of cinema legends in the leading roles. Swaddled in burnished cinematography and cozy music cues, 5 Flights Up is not an unpleasant film; watching Freeman and Keaton is too much of a treat. But it is a false one that was tantalizingly close to being true.” – Movie Mezzanine, 05/07/2015
“Playing It Cool makes a pretty convincing argument against post-modernism. It assembles an enormously appealing cast then and proceeds to trip over its own shoelaces for an hour-and-a-half, while writers Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair attempt to prove their smart-alecky superiority to the genre in which they’re working.” – Movie Mezzanine, 05/05/201
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON * 1 / 2
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson. Written and directed by Joss Whedon.
Talking with fellow Boston Online Film Critics Association members Bob Chipman, Steve Head and John Black about this month’s repertory offerings. The discussion covers big cats, wild turkeys, human centipedes and a large yellow bird. – BOFCA, 05/01/2015
“What do you think the odds are that during the journey she might show him how to loosen up a little bit and enjoy himself, while he teaches her a few valuable life lessons about adulthood and responsibility? If there was an original idea in Jesse Gabe’s screenplay it died of loneliness long before reaching the screen.” – Movie Mezzanine, 04/29/2015
“A brawny historical melodrama with a twinge of magic realism amongst the oft-conflicting tones, what the movie lacks in discipline and polish it makes up for in sheer sincerity. The Water Diviner is a proudly old-fashioned, genuinely heartfelt picture so damned earnest that Crowe seems to be all but daring you not to like it. I liked it a lot.” – Movie Mezzanine, 04/22/2015
SPLICED PERSONALITY 